Effective Date: This rule is effective July 14, 2014. Comment Date: Comments must be received on or before August 11, 2014.

13 CFR Part 121

Summary

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is adjusting the monetary based industry size standards ( i.e., receipts, assets, net worth, and net income) for inflation that has occurred since the last adjustment in 2008. These adjustments are in addition to the recent revisions to size standards as part of the current comprehensive size standards review, as mandated by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act). Also adjusted for inflation are program based size standards, with the exception of the new alternative size standard for SBA's 7(a) and 504 loan programs that was established under the Jobs Act. The new alternative size standard will remain in effect until SBA establishes a permanent alternative size standard for the 7(a) and 504 loan programs. SBA is also deleting references to Surety Bond Guarantee size standards for contracts awarded in 2005 in the Presidentially declared disaster areas following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. In addition, SBA is deleting the determination date for eligibility under the Agency's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program in connection with the same 2005 hurricanes. Finally, SBA is clarifying that footnote 9 to its table of size standards is not limited to NAICS 531190, but rather applies to all industries in Industry Group 5311, Lessors of Real Estate.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 2, 2013, which amended its regulations governing small business prime contracting by implementing provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. That rule was published with inadvertent errors in two of the regulatory sections. Those errors are corrected in this document.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 2, 2013, which amended its regulations governing small business prime contracting by implementing provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. That rule was published with inadvertent errors in two of the regulatory sections. Those errors are corrected in this document.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on July 16, 2013 (78 FR 42391), amending its regulations governing small business subcontracting. That document amended § 121.411 without incorporating the amendments made to that section by a final rule published on June 28, 2013 (78 FR 38811), which unintentionally resulted in duplicate paragraphs. This document corrects the final regulations by properly designating the paragraphs in § 121.411.

Effective date: April 25, 2014. Applicability date: This rule is applicable for disasters declared on or after April 25, 2014. Comment date: Comments must be received on or before June 23, 2014.

13 CFR Part 123

Summary

SBA is amending its disaster loan program regulations in response to Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force recommendations. One change allows SBA to rely on the disaster loan applicant's credit, including credit score, rather than personal or business cash flow in order to assess repayment ability for those applicants with strong credit. Another change will increase the amount of disaster assistance funds that can be immediately disbursed to borrowers by raising the unsecured threshold for economic injury loans for all disasters and for physical damage loans for major disasters. Both of these changes will enable SBA to provide disaster assistance more quickly and efficiently.

This rule is effective April 21, 2014, except for the amendment to 13 CFR 120.823, which is effective April 21, 2015.

13 CFR Part 120

Summary

This rule finalizes the proposed rule that the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued to improve access to its two flagship business lending programs: the 504 Loan Program and the 7(a) Loan Program. This rule will enhance job creation through increasing eligibility for loans under SBA's business loan programs and by modifying certain program participant requirements applicable to the 504 Loan Program. In addition, SBA is revising Certified Development Company (CDC) operations requirements to clarify certain existing regulations. SBA has decided to further study the issue of how to redefine affiliation for the business loan programs and is not including any changes to the affiliation standards in this final rule.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is issuing this final rule to conform the regulations governing the Surety Bond Guarantee Program to certain provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA), including the provisions that increase the contract amounts for which SBA is authorized to guarantee bonds, grant SBA the authority to partially deny liability under its bond guarantee, and prohibit SBA from denying liability based on material information that was provided as part of the guarantee application in the Prior Approval Program. This rule also makes changes to the Quick Bond Guarantee Application and Agreement, the timeframes for taking certain actions related to claims, and the dollar threshold for determining when a change in the Contract or bond amounts meets certain criteria or requires certain action. Finally, the final rule eliminates references to the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) that have expired.

Title 13 published on 2014-01-01

The following are ALL rules, proposed rules, and notices (chronologically) published in the Federal Register relating to Title 13after this date.

This rule proposes to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA) pertaining to small business size. Specifically, the rule proposes to amend the Small Business Administration's (SBA or Agency) program regulations to implement statutory provisions establishing a safe harbor from fraud penalties for individuals or firms that misrepresent business concerns as being small for purposes of Federal procurement opportunities if they acted in good faith reliance upon small business status advisory opinions received from Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) or Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs). The rule also proposes to amend SBA's regulations to establish the criteria small business status advisory opinions must meet in order to be deemed adequate and specify the review process for such opinions. Finally, the proposed rule would amend SBA's regulations to update the circumstances under which SBA may initiate a formal size determination.

Effective Date: This rule is effective July 14, 2014. Comment Date: Comments must be received on or before August 11, 2014.

13 CFR Part 121

Summary

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is adjusting the monetary based industry size standards ( i.e., receipts, assets, net worth, and net income) for inflation that has occurred since the last adjustment in 2008. These adjustments are in addition to the recent revisions to size standards as part of the current comprehensive size standards review, as mandated by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act). Also adjusted for inflation are program based size standards, with the exception of the new alternative size standard for SBA's 7(a) and 504 loan programs that was established under the Jobs Act. The new alternative size standard will remain in effect until SBA establishes a permanent alternative size standard for the 7(a) and 504 loan programs. SBA is also deleting references to Surety Bond Guarantee size standards for contracts awarded in 2005 in the Presidentially declared disaster areas following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. In addition, SBA is deleting the determination date for eligibility under the Agency's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program in connection with the same 2005 hurricanes. Finally, SBA is clarifying that footnote 9 to its table of size standards is not limited to NAICS 531190, but rather applies to all industries in Industry Group 5311, Lessors of Real Estate.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 2, 2013, which amended its regulations governing small business prime contracting by implementing provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. That rule was published with inadvertent errors in two of the regulatory sections. Those errors are corrected in this document.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on October 2, 2013, which amended its regulations governing small business prime contracting by implementing provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. That rule was published with inadvertent errors in two of the regulatory sections. Those errors are corrected in this document.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published a final rule in the Federal Register on July 16, 2013 (78 FR 42391), amending its regulations governing small business subcontracting. That document amended § 121.411 without incorporating the amendments made to that section by a final rule published on June 28, 2013 (78 FR 38811), which unintentionally resulted in duplicate paragraphs. This document corrects the final regulations by properly designating the paragraphs in § 121.411.

SBA must receive comments to this proposed rule on or before July 18, 2014.

13 CFR Part 121

Summary

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) proposes to increase employee based size standards for 46 industries in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sector 42, Wholesale Trade, and one industry in NAICS Sector 44-45, Retail Trade and retain the current size standards in the remaining industries in those sectors. SBA also proposes to retain the current 500-employee size standard for Federal procurement of supplies under the nonmanufacturer rule. As part of its ongoing comprehensive size standards review, SBA reviewed all 71 industries in NAICS Sector 42 as well as the two industries in NAICS Sector 44-45 that have employee based size standards. The proposed revisions, if adopted, will primarily affect eligibility for SBA's financial assistance programs. This proposed rule is one of a series of proposed rules that will review size standards of industries grouped by NAICS Sector.

Effective date: April 25, 2014. Applicability date: This rule is applicable for disasters declared on or after April 25, 2014. Comment date: Comments must be received on or before June 23, 2014.

13 CFR Part 123

Summary

SBA is amending its disaster loan program regulations in response to Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force recommendations. One change allows SBA to rely on the disaster loan applicant's credit, including credit score, rather than personal or business cash flow in order to assess repayment ability for those applicants with strong credit. Another change will increase the amount of disaster assistance funds that can be immediately disbursed to borrowers by raising the unsecured threshold for economic injury loans for all disasters and for physical damage loans for major disasters. Both of these changes will enable SBA to provide disaster assistance more quickly and efficiently.

SBA must receive comments to this proposed rule on or before June 9, 2014.

13 CFR Part 102

Summary

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) proposes to amend its regulations to establish for the affected public that existing Agency standards governing the use and disclosure of information also apply to information collected from SBA's resource partners, including Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women's Business Centers (WBCs) and SCORE, as well as from the clients of these resource partners. The rule covers information collected when conducting financial examinations, programmatic reviews, polls, surveys, and any other collections of information.

This rule is effective April 21, 2014, except for the amendment to 13 CFR 120.823, which is effective April 21, 2015.

13 CFR Part 120

Summary

This rule finalizes the proposed rule that the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued to improve access to its two flagship business lending programs: the 504 Loan Program and the 7(a) Loan Program. This rule will enhance job creation through increasing eligibility for loans under SBA's business loan programs and by modifying certain program participant requirements applicable to the 504 Loan Program. In addition, SBA is revising Certified Development Company (CDC) operations requirements to clarify certain existing regulations. SBA has decided to further study the issue of how to redefine affiliation for the business loan programs and is not including any changes to the affiliation standards in this final rule.

2014-03-17; vol. 79 # 51 - Monday, March 17, 2014

79 FR 14617 - Microloan Program Expanded Eligibility and Other Program Changes

This proposed rule would amend certain existing regulations for the Microloan Program. The Microloan Program assists women, low income, veteran, and minority entrepreneurs, and others capable of operating a small business that are in need of small amounts of financial assistance. Specifically, this proposed rule would allow any Microloan Program Intermediary to make microloans (loans of $50,000 or less) to businesses with an Associate who is on probation or parole, except in limited circumstances; it would increase the minimum number of loans that microloan Intermediaries must make annually; and it would remove the requirement that the Microloan Revolving Fund (MRF) and the Loan Loss Reserve Fund (LLRF) be held in interest-bearing Deposit Accounts. In addition, the proposed rule includes technical amendments that would conform the regulations to current statutory authority.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is issuing this final rule to conform the regulations governing the Surety Bond Guarantee Program to certain provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA), including the provisions that increase the contract amounts for which SBA is authorized to guarantee bonds, grant SBA the authority to partially deny liability under its bond guarantee, and prohibit SBA from denying liability based on material information that was provided as part of the guarantee application in the Prior Approval Program. This rule also makes changes to the Quick Bond Guarantee Application and Agreement, the timeframes for taking certain actions related to claims, and the dollar threshold for determining when a change in the Contract or bond amounts meets certain criteria or requires certain action. Finally, the final rule eliminates references to the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) that have expired.